Saturday 13 April 2013
Dorset & Wilts Division 1 North
Minety grab last minute Garland of victory
Calne 1st XV 10pts – Minety 1st XV 11pts
It wasn’t until the very last minute of the season that Minety’s Elis Garland scored the try which not only beat Calne but secured his club’s future in Dorset & Wilts Division 1 North.
The game was played in cold and driving rain. Calne had the better of the early exchanges, kicking for territory and giving their heavy forwards the opportunity to dominate the set pieces. The visitors gave away a penalty after five minutes from which the home team kicked a goal to establish an early lead.
Calne continued to press but Minety well-organised defence kept them out.
After the home number 6 was sin binned, Minety began to gain ground. Thanks to some storming runs by Garland, they got into Calne’s 22. The home side gave away a penalty in front of the posts and Minety skipper Tom Fitzcharles kicked the goal to even the scores.
The visitors crossed the try line twice before the break, but were held up the first time and forced into touch in goal the second.
Minety started the second half well. Calne’s discipline began to crack and though the visitors failed to convert a penalty goal attempt, they remained on top. Again, Minety crossed their opponents’ try line several times and appeared to score, only to be brought back for a variety of infringements.
The visitors’ momentum faltered when their scrumhalf was yellow-carded for handling on the floor, but Calne failed to turn their advantage into points and were soon reduced to 14 men themselves when one of their players was red carded for punching.
A 40 metre penalty goal from Fitzcharles finally got Minety into the lead and the visitors looked well set for victory until a disastrously telegraphed pass set up an easy interception for Calne. Their man charged 50 metres for a try under the posts, swiftly followed by a simple conversion to give Calne a 10-6 lead against the run of play.
With time running out, the visitors laid siege to the Calne line but though they crossed it several times, yet again they could find no way to score. It wasn’t until the last minute that Garland sprinted through for a try in the corner to settle matters in Minety’s favour.